Has this, or something like this, happend to you?

In college I used to bump around in headphones and crank tunes all the time. I was walking to the newspaper office and this little guy (like 5 feet tall) in a gray suit walking the other way gives me this weird look.

So I say, “What’s up, home boy?” a little louder than usual, you know, because of the headphones. He doesn’t say anything and nervously walks past.

Well, 10 minutes later, working in front of the big picture window in our office, the dude crosses into view. “Hey, it’s dr. smith,” one of the copy editors says. I said, “Who’s that?”

University president.

I had to interview him soon after for a story about gay guys cruising for blow jobs in on-campus restrooms. And if the subject matter weren’t touchy enough, that “home boy” episode made future interviews even more nervous.

 

So one evening I'm working on a story that required a bunch of phone calls, leaving messages, waiting for people to call me back. In the middle of this, the phone rings, and I'm hoping it's a source, but I don't recognize the number on the caller ID (555-555-1234), and it turns out it's a guy who apparently sat on his cell phone in his car.

I say, "Hello," but all I hear is classic rock on the car stereo, maybe some faint traffic noises. I curse and hang up.

A couple of minutes later, the phone rings again (same number on the caller ID), and Mr. Numbnuts is still jamming and driving, only this time it's adult contemporary. I yell, "Stop calling me!" but he doesn't hear. I curse and hang up again.

This happens at least six more times over the next 20 minutes. The last time, he's apparently home, because you hear doors opening, and a dog barking in the background. So fed up with this already, I hang up, and dial the number from the Caller ID. When Numbnuts answers, I say:

"Look, I don't know who you are, but you've been calling me non-stop for the last half hour. Your music sucks and your mutt of a dog sounds hungry, and you might want to invest in a flip phone to keep from sitting on the buttons and bothering people who are trying to get work done."

He makes some oafish grunting noise and hangs up on me, but I'm satisfied that I've finally put an end to this. Now I can get back to finishing this story.

Problem is, I can't write until I hear back from that source I left a message with an hour or so ago. I should probably try him again. What was his number?

You guessed it -- 555-555-1234.